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Cartesian networks – how new ideas spread

Social networks play a pivotal role in generating and diffusing new ideas. A case in point involved the French philosopher René Descartes, who spent most of his adult life in the Dutch Republic. There, his ideas were spread successfully by his followers through their social networks. Recently, quantitative network analysis was elevated to the rank of a discipline. The EU-funded Cartesian Networks project intends to demonstrate to what extent techniques and methodologies developed by scientists can produce an understanding of the structure and dynamics that secured the successful spread of the Cartesian philosophy.